McCain, Kyl call for Guard troops on Arizona border

by Erin Kelly - Apr. 19, 2010 01:38 PMRepublic Washington Bureau

Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, flanked by sheriffs from Pinal and Cochise counties, announced a 10-point border security action plan Monday in the midst of growing violence on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border.

The plan includes sending 3,000 National Guard troops to the border, adding 3,000 Border Patrol agents in Arizona by 2015, increasing funding for programs that help local law enforcement fight drug and immigrant smuggling, and ensuring that anyone caught crossing the border illegally more than once serves 15 to 60 days in jail.

"Border violence has spiraled out of control, and Arizona has been disproportionately hit," McCain said at a Capitol press conference.

McCain, who is up for re-election this year, and Kyl, who is not, acknowledged that many of their ideas are the same ones they've been pushing for months or years. But they said escalating violence - including the murder last month of southeastern Arizona cattle rancher Rob Krentz - prompted them to put the ideas together into a comprehensive plan to secure the border.

Law enforcement officials believe Krentz may have been killed by an illegal immigrant. On the day of his murder, Krentz had radioed his brother that he had encountered an illegal immigrant on the ranch.

"These security recommendations come from the sheriffs and others on the front lines," Kyl said.

Kyl said he didn't know how much the plan would cost federal taxpayers. One provision alone - increased funding for Operation Stonegarden, which provides grants and reimbursements to local law enforcement for costs related to illegal immigration - would cost $40 million.

The two Republican senators also did not say exactly how their plan would be paid for, although McCain said he thought the money could come from shifting funds away from "unneeded and unnecessary" federal spending programs.

The state should not have to bear the cost of fighting immigration-related crime, McCain said.
"The state of Arizona is broke, and the security of our border is a federal responsibility," he said.
The senators announced their plan just as the Arizona Legislature was poised to pass the final version of a bill that would make it a state crime to be in the United States illegally. The legislation would allow police to arrest people who can't produce valid identification.

Under current law, illegal immigration is a federal crime, and state law enforcement officials can ask about someone's immigration status only if they're suspected of another crime.

"I think it's a very important step forward," McCain said of the bill.

Kyl said the legislation stems from federal government's failure to do its job.
"People are fed up," he said.

More than half of the 1 million illegal immigrants apprehended at the Southwest border last year were caught in Arizona, and more than half of the marijuana smuggling also came through the state, said Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever.

Of the illegal immigrants apprehended at the border, 17 percent had criminal records in the United States, Dever said.

Local law enforcement officials are overwhelmed and need federal help, said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who also serves as president of the Arizona Sheriff's Association.

Last month alone, there were 64 pursuits by Pinal County deputies of people who refused to pull over their cars, Babeu said. He said many of those who flee are illegal immigrants heading to the Phoenix metro area.

"This has reached epidemic proportions," he said. He called the senators' plan "welcome."

"Border security has been the number one issue for law enforcement in Arizona," Babeu said. "We live with the impacts daily."

Senate Bill 1070

The bill addresses a range of issues relating to illegal immigration. It would:

• Prohibit state, city or county officials from limiting or restricting "the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law" and allow an Arizona resident to sue an official or agency that adopts or implements a policy or practice that does so. The bill contains a "loser pays" provision that may deter frivolous lawsuits.

• Require law enforcement to make a reasonable attempt "when practicable" to determine the immigration status of a person if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally. Officers do not have to do so "if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation."

• Make it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant, by creating a state charge of "willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document."

• Allow law enforcement to stop a driver if there is reasonable suspicion that the driver is in violation of human-smuggling and any civil traffic law.

• Make it a crime for illegal immigrants to work or solicit work in Arizona.

• Make it a crime to pick up a day laborer for work if the vehicle impedes traffic while doing so. Make it a crime to be picked up as a day laborer if the vehicle they get into is impeding traffic.

• Make it a crime to conceal, harbor or shield an illegal immigrant if the person knows or recklessly disregards the immigrant's legal status. Does create a legal defense for someone providing emergency, public-safety or public-health services to illegal immigrants.

• Allow law-enforcement officials to arrest a person without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes him or her removable from the U.S.